What do you do when a congressman asks you to help coordinate a project......of course you do it! That is how BB2C came to be involved with Manufacturing Your Future Day, which was created and sponsored by Congressman Bill Johnson's office. We were excited to have another opportunity for students to tour local businesses to create career awareness and knowledge of career paths for the manufacturing industry.

A personal appearance from Congressman Johnson at Washington State Community College kicked off the event. Then, 85 students from all over the county toured 2-3 manufacturers each. Eight local manufacturers opened their doors to our students from Fort Frye, Marietta, Frontier, Warren, Belpre and Waterford High Schools. After the tours, students returned to WSCC and participated in a networking lunch where students had the opportunity to talk more in depth with business representatives from the manufacturing industry. Lunch ended with John Burgardt sharing information about programs available at WSCC that connect with the manufacturing industry.

Here are some reactions:

"I think this is a beneficial day for any student who may not think there are options for them in the workforce. I think a lot of students are pressured to get a four-year degree or they feel like they have to. Based on the different manufacturers we saw today, there are other options out there, as well. So, for the students who don’t typically feel like a four-year college is on their list there are definitely options available to them in the workforce. I think that today helped them see that ."-Tyler Leasure, teacher at Belpre HS

We would like to thank Congressman Johnson's office for this wonderful opportunity. A huge thank you to Washington State Community College for allowing us access for the kickoff and networking lunch. We would also like to thank the following companies for participating in the tours and/or networking lunch:

Our hope was to expose the students to careers and local employers that they weren't aware of and we think we accomplished that goal! Stay tuned for details on our next big career awareness event, Family Career Awareness Day on Oct. 18th, 2018 from 4pm-7pm.